A brand new take a look at a “star factory” …
Practicing Moonwalks right here on Earth …
And an Earthly help for a NASA spacecraft … just a few of the tales to let you know about – This Week at NASA!
Webb’s New Star-Filled “Pillars of Creation” Image
A brand new Webb Space Telescope picture of the long-lasting Pillars of Creation – a star manufacturing facility of types – is visually gorgeous and will assist us higher perceive how stars kind inside clouds of fuel and interstellar mud.
Astronaut Scott Tingle takes a more in-depth take a look at rock formations at Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona throughout a simulated spacewalk on day 5 of NASA’s Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS) in 2011. The upcoming DRATS mission is a reboot of a program that carried out analog missions from 1997-2012. Credit: NASA/Regan Geeseman
Practicing Artemis Moonwalks within the Arizona Desert
An analog mission this month to follow lunar operations close to Flagstaff, Arizona will present essential knowledge for future Artemis Moon missions. Learn extra about analog missions at nasa.gov/analogs.
On October 16, 2022, Lucy flew by the Earth like a associate in a swing dance, boosting its pace and elongating its orbit across the Sun. At 7:04 am, Eastern Time, Lucy made its closest method at simply 219 miles above the planet: decrease than the International Space Station. This exceptionally shut shave will enhance its velocity by four-and-a-half miles per second, setting Lucy on monitor to achieve much more pace when it returns to Earth for its second gravity help in December 2024. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Lucy Spacecraft Gets Gravity Assist from Earth
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft swung again by Earth on October 16, precisely one 12 months after its launch. The shut flyby additionally gave Lucy the primary of a number of gravity assists it wants from Earth to succeed in the never-before-visited Trojan asteroids that share an orbit with Jupiter.
With 14 electric motors turning propellers and all of them integrated into a uniquely-designed wing, NASA will test new propulsion technology using an experimental airplane now designated the X-57 and nicknamed “Maxwell.” Credit: NASA Langley/Advanced Concepts Lab, AMA, Inc.
X-57 Maxwell Aircraft Gets Powered Up
Lithium-ion battery packs installed in NASA’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell aircraft successfully powered the plane’s motors. This important milestone brings the experimental plane a step closer to first flight.
Astronaut James A. McDivitt, shown here in his official 1971 portrait, died on October 13, 2022. McDivitt commanded Gemini IV, the second crewed Gemini flight, and Apollo 9, which tested the first lunar module in Earth orbit. Credit: NASA
NASA Astronaut James McDivitt Dies at Age 93
Former NASA astronaut Jim McDivitt, who commanded the Gemini IV and Apollo 9 missions, died on October 13. Jim McDivitt was 93 years old.
That’s what’s up this week @NASA
